New England Biz Law Update

In a second victory for the biotech industry in one year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has reinstated its ruling that a company’s isolation of human genetic material, and its process for using that material to ...

Tagged with: Sept. 30 2012 issue

Lawyers say they are not surprised by a recent National Labor Relations Board ruling that a company committed an unfair labor practice by instructing employees they could not discuss an internal investigation, but that does not mean they like the ...

Tagged with: Sept. 30 2012 issue

A teacher dismissed from a private school could sue his former employer for breach of contract despite the fact that the employment offer he signed expressly stated that it was not a contract, that his employment would be at will, and that the offer could be revoked at the discretion of the school.

Tagged with: Aug. 31 2012 issue

A sales associate for a gas station and convenience store could not hold his employer liable for disparate treatment after his hours were reduced when he returned from a medical leave, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided.

Tagged with: Aug. 31 2012 issue

An employee could not recover under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 based on a jury finding that retaliation for his complaints about disability discrimination was a motivating factor in — though not the “but-for cause” of — an adverse employment ...

Tagged with: Aug. 31 2012 issue

A substitute teacher who was turned down for open teaching positions could sue for age discrimination based on evidence that interview sheets were missing from his personnel file, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has ruled in a split decision.

Tagged with: Aug. 31 2012 issue

A mandatory arbitration clause in an employment application was unenforceable against a pregnant woman who brought suit after being denied a job, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in a 2-1 decision.

Tagged with: Aug. 31 2012 issue

In most American workplaces, at-will employment clauses in employee handbooks and agreements are as common as break room water coolers. But recent cases brought by the National Labor Relations Board alleging that some at-will policy agreements violate federal law have ...

Tagged with: Aug. 31 2012 issue

Is the Internet a place of public accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act? Courts across the nation have been split on the issue. But a recent decision from a U.S. District Court judge in Massachusetts that the ADA covers ...

Tagged with: Aug. 31 2012 issue

A series of emails between a buyer and seller of real estate containing the material terms of an offer to purchase and indicating an acceptance of those terms was sufficient to create a binding contract, a Superior Court judge in ...

Tagged with: July 31 2012 issue